American Seafood Contained Known Carcinogen

A few days ago I wrote about the overuse of antibiotics and how one recent study found that the popular antibiotic Z-pack is associated with a higher risk of death from a heart attack. I also talked about how antibiotics are linked to other health problems such as obesity and diabetes and that our animals for slaughter are injected with antibiotics to fatten them up quicker. Our overreliance on antibiotics is not good and another recent news story highlighted the overbundance of antibiotics in our food supply.

According to an ABC News report, shipments of America's favorite seafood, shrimp, was contaminated with an illegal antibiotic. ABC tested thirty shipments of shrimp for sale in America's grocery stores and found that three with contaminated with antibiotics that are banned in the U.S. Although three shipments may seem small compared to the overall amount of shrimp in the U.S., three is actually quite a bit considering that Americans eat 1 billion pounds of shrimp a year.

ABC sent the samples to a lab for testing, which discovered that enrofloxacin, chloramphenicol, and nitrofuranzone were present–the last of which is a known carcinogen. The Government Accountability Office has raised questions about the FDA's oversight of seafood and has found that the program's ability is "limited" and needs strengthening. Over 90% of the U.S. supply of seafood comes from overseas, particularly Thailand, China, Indonesia and Ecuador. The GAO has called for increased testing for illegal compound use in seafood.